Small and medium-sized food processing companies in Alberta will soon have a simpler path to earn and keep up their food safety accreditation under a new federal/provincial program announced Friday.
The provincial agriculture department and the Canadian General Standards Board (CGSB), an arm of the federal public works department, have inked an agreement under which the CGSB will audit processors who implement the Alberta HACCP (Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point) Advantage program.
The provincial program, called AHA! for short, gives food companies a standard to make sure safe practices are followed. The voluntary AHA! standard is meant for use by Alberta processors who want to formally adopt a government-recognized program.
Read Also
Greater feed efficiency in calves possible through controlled creep feeding
Gerard Roney, founder of Advantage Feeders in Australia, spoke at Ag in Motion 2025 about using controlled creep feeding to develop a calf’s rumen, allowing for better uptake of energy and protein at a younger age.
It’s expected that a larger number of retailers will accept a system audited by CGSB, rather than require their Alberta suppliers to go through individual audits for each retailer, said Dr. Sandra Honour of the provincial ag department’s food safety division.
Major retailers, responding to customer demand for verifiable food safety, now require their customers to have audited safety systems in place, Honour said.
HACCP is an internationally recognized food safety system in which a company will identify stages in its processes where safety issues may occur and then take steps to reduce that risk or prevent problems from occurring, rather than rely on end-product testing to spot a safety breach.
The system is designed for use across the food industry including growing, harvesting, processing, manufacturing, distributing, merchandising and preparation.
Agriculture Minister George Groeneveld said the agreement provides a processor with a way to get a “comprehensive audit,” save money in the process and continually improve on its safety practices in the future.
The first audit to be completed under this new program was a pilot project at the meat processing training centre at Olds College, the province said.
The CGSB is the only federal standards development and assessment organization accredited under Canada’s National Standards System. The board’s certification provides “an impartial, objective mechanism for organizations to demonstrate and emphasize the value of their HACCP food safety system and their dedication to quality,” federal Public Works Minister Michael Fortier said in a provincial release.
Once a facility’s AHA! program has been audited by the CGSB, the company will undergo maintenance audits on an annual basis to verify that it’s continuing with its programs, the province explained in a release.
Processors who succeed get a certificate showing they successfully implemented this food safety system, the province said.
